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A ceremony
was held on Near Island Monday to break ground for a new office complex being
jointly built by Koniag and KANA. The 13,000-square-foot building will house
the regional Native Corporation's main offices and the social service offices of
the Kodiak Area Native Association.

Koniag
President and CEO Will Anderson welcomed the crowd of elders, board members and
other dignitaries to the ceremony:

--(Groundbreak 126 sec"I
always thought there were ... well with the world again.")

Julie
Knagin (k'naggin') performed a stone lamp lighting ceremony, with the help of a
young girl who later performed with the Alutiiq Dancers:

--(Groundbreak 252 sec"Camai!
It's nice to see and be ... healthy environment.")

Anderson
reminisced about the time when Koniag moved its headquarters out of Kodiak in
favor of Anchorage:

--(Groundbreak 341 sec"This
really is a great ... start on this wonderful building.")

Andy Teuber
(toober), said the social service and assistance programs will occupy KANA's
portion of the building, freeing up more space at the KANA clinic on Rezanof
Drive:

--(Groundbreak 452 sec"This
is a building that ... and VPSO Program.")

The
Rasmuson Foundation provided 800-thousand dollars for the two-story building,
and executive director Diane Kaplan flew in for the ceremony. She said it was
the largest capital grant the foundation has made in Kodiak. She said that
given the current financial climate, KANA and Koniag were fortunate to request
the funds when they did, because until things turn around, grants of that size
will be few and far between.